The Chair
by MegannRosemary
Summary: An encounter and a conversation changes their relationship forever. Post 3x01. Rizzles.


Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Rizzoli & Isles.

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The Chair

- By MegannRosemary

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_Tell Pike I want my chair back._

Those words echoed through Jane's mind on the way back to her car. They amplified, filled her and kept her grounded. In any other situation those words would have seemed completely innocuous, childish eve. But to Jane, they were some of the best words that she'd heard in days.

She repeated them over and over in her head, then out loud in order to preserve them, make them all the more real and tangible.

They gave her hope.

They were the first step in the right direction and promised a future for Jane and Maura.

* * *

When Jane got back, she relayed the message without wasting any time. The letter of resignation was torn up and tossed in the recycling. It was like it had never happened.

Only, it had.

Jane sat in Maura's chair as Pike cleared the stuff he had already moved into Maura's office. When he was finally gone, Jane began to tidy up, setting things back the way they were supposed to be. A peace offering, she hoped.

There wasn't a whole lot left in the office, Maura must have taken it with her, but Jane straightened the half completed case files and ordered the pens as she knew Maura liked it. She opened the bottom drawer and found a few more odds and ends...and a framed photograph of Jane and Maura in their P.U.K.E spandex.

That stopped her and she sat back in the chair just staring at the photograph. She couldn't remember anyone taking a picture of them but here it was...Jane and Maura in their pukey spandex glory, sweating and beaming. Her heart broke at seeing the friendship and the openness, the...love that they shared. That was all in tatters now. She only hoped that there was enough pukey spandex in the world to stick them back together again.

Pike poked his head around the door, "Are you ok?"

Jane quickly tied to wipe the look off her face and replaced it with an exaggerated scowl, "No, because you are still here."

"Oh...I...Uh..." he stuttered, " I.. I was wondering if you wanted to have dinner with me."

Jane choked back a laugh and turned on the charm that had gotten her in this mess in the first place, "Sorry Pike, I just got out of a bad relationship."

It placated him.

"Oh, Ok. Bye Jane."

When his white head of hair disappeared again, she sank back in her chair, sank back into her misery. She went back to staring at the picture and it consumed her, swallowed her whole. She couldn't tear herself away, as much as her eyes watered, she continued to stare.

The heartache and the photo eventually lulled her to sleep.

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It was barely dawn the next morning when Maura made her way into the precinct and down to her office. She had stuff to do, people to see and important things that she needed to say.

She flipped on the light in her office and started to take in the comforting atmosphere that had been her haven for so long. Her eyes fell on something, someone..."Jane?"

No answer.

She tried to move as quietly as possible in the sky high heels she had chosen for her first day back. Crouching down, she cupped Jane's face and she startled, eyes flying open and the framed photograph falling out of her hands.

Maura caught it before it fell, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm protecting your chair," As if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

At that, Maura burst into tears. She was surprised that she had any left.

Jane instinctively pulled her up off the floor and onto her lap, cradling her and rocking her like a small child. Once there, she didn't know quite what to do other than drop her back to the floor. So instead she awkwardly patted Maura's head, 'Hey. Hey, it's ok."

Through her sobs, Maura spoke, "I treated you horribly and you just do something so nice to me." She took a hiccupping breath, closed her eyes and pressed a salty kiss to Jane's lips.

Jane jerked back at the shock it gave her, nearly tipping them out of the chair. "What are you doing?"

"Kissing you."

"I can see that, but why?"

"Because I love you."

Jane did drop Maura then, totally stunned. "What?"

Maura caught herself on the arms of the chair and straightened her skirt, wiped the tears from her face. "I was doing some thinking..."

"Clearly."

"Well, somehow because of this mess and what your mother said to me, I realised that like you as more than a friend."

"My mother had something to do with this?"

"She said, 'We can't help who we love.'"

Jane couldn't process what she was hearing.

Maura continued, "I had a plan - I was going to apologize, we would make up and we would work on being friends again. When the time was right I would let you know how I feel."

"So this is the right time, is it?

"It's not supposed to be, but it is..." She was losing confidence.

Jane shook her head, "Well you took the saying 'kiss and make up' to a whole new level."

"So?"

"You're my best friend, no matter what. Of course I love you, I just don't know... I never thought..."

"Never?

Never was too strong a word. She'd thought about it...squashed it down and called herself crazy. "I don't know... I don't know..."

Now it was Jane who leaned in and Maura who leaned back. "What are you doing?"

"I just want to see...feel..." She couldn't form words, just leaned forwards again. Their lips met and they moved to find the right angle. Electricity coursed through their bodies, nerves tingling.

She knew.

They both knew.

They tried to move the kiss deeper and the chair lurched, forcing to separate. They rested their foreheads together, breathing heavily from the desire flooding their minds, their bodies.

"I've never kissed a girl...woman...before," Jane admitted, not able to think of anything else to say.

"I did in college a few times. I didn't really like it...I liked this though."

"Me too."

"Now what?" Maura asked. She needed a plan, always. "Friends?"

"Best friends..."

"And?"

Jane shrugged, "The rest we'll muddle through, together."

"Together."

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**A/N: This is my first fanfic so leave a note if you can and let me know what you thought. Thanks for reading.**


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